Police hunt same gunman for separate shootings

Detectives were last night hunting a gunman who shot two people within minutes of each other in two busy areas of north London. The first victim, a man in his 30s, was left with "potentially life-threatening injuries" after being shot on Upper Street, Islington, at 6.45pm. An ambulance team arrived at the scene within five minutes and he was rushed to a north London hospital.

Less than 30 minutes later officers were called to Finsbury Park tube station, more than a mile away, after reports that several shots had been fired at two men. A woman in her 20s, who was standing near the men at the Wells Terrace entrance to the station, was hit in the back. Police said she was taken to hospital with a non-life threatening wound.

A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan police said that the same suspect - a white man wearing a grey hooded top - had been seen at both incidents. She added: "No arrests have been made and the incidents are being treated as linked, due to the description of the suspect."

A Finsbury Park resident who witnessed the second shooting, said: "I saw this man ran up the tunnel, turn back and shoot twice into the tunnel. He then ran up Morris Place, sending a little girl flying. He obviously knew where he was going. He then stopped again, had a look around and then ran off."

The witness, who asked not to be named, said the gunman was white, around 6ft tall and scruffily dressed in a grey hooded top. He added: "You don't expect this sort of thing around here. He could have hit anyone with those bullets."

Four police vans and a number of uniformed officers were last night cordoning off the scene of the first shooting, which happened near Islington Green, at the junction of Upper Street and Essex Road. Traffic was diverted and several roads in the area were closed as police continued their search for the gunman.

Upper Street, Islington's main thoroughfare, is packed with people on most evenings because of its bars, restaurants, cinemas, theatres and clubs. Some of the restaurants closed their doors after the shooting.

Finsbury Park station, which is on the Victoria and Piccadilly lines as well as the mainline, was also closed, stranding hundreds of commuters as they tried to make their way home.

Roads around the station were also cordoned off. Islington was named one of London's safest boroughs in a major crime survey published earlier this week.